Dealing with infertility can be tremendously challenging. Luckily medicine and alternative methods have far advanced and there are many treatment options you can look into. In this blog we try to touch on as many subjects possible to help you better understand infertility and evaluate all options that are out there.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Understanding the Inability to Conceive

The inability to conceive can mean number of different problems and medical conditions that can be found in both men and women. In the past the popular belief was that a couple’s problems in this area could only be attributed to the female partner, but with advances in medical science we now know that it can be brought on by male partner, female partner, or both partners.

Before a couple can go to a fertility clinic and treat their problems they must first educate themselves on everything they need to know. Without the proper briefing a lot of couples would end up agreeing to pay for expensive treatments that they do not actually need or simply be confused by every word the doctors are saying to them.

What Causes The Inability to Conceive?

This is the first question out of most couple’s mouths because unlike a broken arm or the chicken pox, you cannot typically visibly see the cause. This is because fertility problems happen within your body and typically have no painful symptoms or clear warning signs. Most couples discover their inability to conceive after unsuccessfully attempting to become pregnant for a time period of at least 6 months. After multiple attempts to become pregnant the next step a couple takes is to visit their local fertility clinic or family doctor and begin asking questions.

Fertility Problems in Females

For women who are 35 or older, the reason for their problems with conception may be a very simple one; age. Something a lot of people do not know is that as you grow older, your overall fertility begins to decrease. This happens to both men and women as they age, but the decline of fertility tends to be much more aggressive in females than it is in males. By age 40 most women are considered to be on the verge of being completely infertile, but men of the same age are more than likely going to be able to facilitate a healthy pregnancy. If you catch the problem early enough, there are plenty of fertility treatments that exist to be able to help you become pregnant but your chances of success decrease with each passing day so it is important to act quickly.

Another common cause of problems with fertility in women is the lack of ovulation and egg production. If a woman does not ovulate that means that a healthy egg is never produced and a pregnancy has 0 chance of being created. In response to the lack of ovulation in females there are many different fertility drugs that supply a woman with the hormones she is missing in order to ovulate. If these simple drugs do not do the trick, there are also simple fertility treatments that can help a woman ovulate.
Sometimes a woman is able to ovulate, but the egg(s) which she produces are deficient in some way or another. Often times the problem with the egg lies within the formation, for example, the outer layer of the female egg is so thick that any and all sperm are unable to penetrate it, thus eliminating the possibility of fertilization. Just like in the aforementioned situation, there are plenty of drugs that help a woman produce healthy eggs and treatments that go hand in hand with these drugs as well.

These are just some of the reasons a woman may be considered to be infertile, but with today’s advances in medicine and technology, for almost every fertility problem there is at least one fertility solution whether it be in the form of a fertility drug or fertility treatment. To find out all about the different types of treatments and drugs for female conception problems, check out the abundance of information we offer on the other pages of our site.

Fertility Problems in Males

Men that experience fertility issues are a bit different than issues women have for obvious reasons, and because of that many of the treatments and procedures are completely different for men than they are for women. Problems to conceive for men can be caused by age, but some men have been known to still be fertile at the age of 50 and beyond so age is less of a factor than it is in female problems.

The main causes of male fertility problems lie within the genre of sperm production and formation. Many men either have a problem producing abundant and plentiful supplies of sperm whereas others are able to produce sperm but the sperm themselves are not well formed. Both of these issues are very serious and can be the reason a couple is unable to become pregnant, but just like many of the aforementioned situations these too have a plethora of solutions.

When a man is unable to produce enough sperm to fertilize a female egg naturally then it comes time to address possible alternatives to impregnating his female partner. One of these solutions is a procedure called ICSI, or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, where a doctor takes a single sperm and injects it directly into a female egg. This process is different than natural fertilization because, for one, it happens outside the body, and instead of thousands of sperm vying to fertilize the egg, there is just one that is injected.

If the problem with the sperm lies in its formation, then this is an entirely new and different scenario. If a man’s sperm is misshaped or missing parts it can affect its effectiveness completely. For example, sometimes a man’s sperm is perfect in every way except that the tail is missing or ineffective. If this is the case then a doctor will likely prescribe medication in order to help fix the problem. If a fertility specialist is unable to solve your sperm formation problem, then you may have to look into other alternatives such as making use of sperm from a donor.

Problems with fertility can be caused, as you can see, by a variety different problems and can affect both men and women. If you think that you may be suffering from one or more of these problems your best option would be to contact your local fertility clinic and have them examine your fertility, after all they are the experts.